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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
“I’m sitting here on the Kaye Gibbons Show, and all I can think is that the whole country is sick. Sick with the idea hat it’s good to be known as seen by as many people as possible, to show every part of our lives to the public at large. Whether it’s Facebook photos, blogs, or reality TV, it’s like nobody is content to just live life. The worth of our existence seems to be measured in pixels and megabytes and “likes.” Those of use whose lives can be downloaded seem to have the most value – until someone outrageous comes along to claim their time in the spotlight.”
This is me after I finished reading this book:
If you have a long TBR but you don't want to pick out a book from that list and wanna read a random book or if you're in a reading slump or just in the mood for a wonderful contemporary then pick this up!!!
This is me after I finished reading this book:
If you have a long TBR but you don't want to pick out a book from that list and wanna read a random book or if you're in a reading slump or just in the mood for a wonderful contemporary then pick this up!!!
This book is great. It really showed how reality TV shows work. I hate reality television now.
cheesy, cliche, campy, and undeniably enjoyable. chloe is probably not the BEST narrator, but i still found myself sympathizing with her and hoping desperately that she and her siblings would get out of the horrible situation chuck and their parents put them in. the depictions of Teen Romance™ were unrealistic (seriously, chloe, we get it, you're MEGA straight for patrick, you don't have to describe how much you shiver when he says anything), but it managed to transcend that and become a sweet, absorbing, hopeful novel about finding yourself and your place in the world when everyone already thinks they know who you are.
This book sucks you in! You can't help but draw parallels between Baker's Dozen and Kate Plus 8... it really makes you think about what these 24/7 camera crews and parents behaving badly in public do to these young children. Chloe/Bonnie's struggles are real and palpable - she comes across as a truly normal person despite the insanity she lives in. I spent the whole book wanting to ring the mother's neck and scream at the unfairness of it all - I rarely feel so intensely about a book, but Heather Demetrios makes you get invested and keeps you hanging until the end. It's as though you can't put it down until you know Chloe is going to get herself out of the Baker's Dozen mess. This is a must read for anyone who is a fan of contemporary YA fiction!!!
Wow. I definitely did not expect to love this book as much as I did. But it was so so great.
Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars, the jury's not out yet.
This book was so good!! I especially loved how the couple was together long before the end!! Also cool to see a behind the scenes look inside a reality tv show!!
Let's start off by saying that I really
liked the premise for the story. Reality TV? amazing! I thought this was going to be a wonderful commentary on how reality TV really is, not the final cut people see. That's the direction where we were heading in the second half of the novel, but it didn't go anywhere interesting after that.
First: Patrick. A wonderful, wonderful plot device. I don't really care that Patrick and Chloe have been secretly in love with each other for ages. It felt like instalove. He wasn't swoony-worthy like Chloe said he was. He seemed like a cardboard cut out of a real person. Which brings me to my second point.
The siblings were cardboard cutouts too! As a reader, I never got to know about anyone except for Benny and Lexie. I was interested in the siblings, but all I got were the stereotypes that were forced upon them.
Third: The plot. I felt like this book didn't know what it wanted to be. Was this a commentary on reality TV in America? Was it a book dealing in with anxiety? The book ever stood up with a story arc that make sense beginning to end. Let's not even begin to talk about the plot holes. What happened to Chloe's anxiety? What's going on with Chloe's dad? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAWSUIT? I WAS WAITING EVER SINCE IT WAS BROUGHT UP TO EXPERIENCE IT BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED! Ugh, this book was a HUGE disappointment.
liked the premise for the story. Reality TV? amazing! I thought this was going to be a wonderful commentary on how reality TV really is, not the final cut people see. That's the direction where we were heading in the second half of the novel, but it didn't go anywhere interesting after that.
First: Patrick. A wonderful, wonderful plot device. I don't really care that Patrick and Chloe have been secretly in love with each other for ages. It felt like instalove. He wasn't swoony-worthy like Chloe said he was. He seemed like a cardboard cut out of a real person. Which brings me to my second point.
The siblings were cardboard cutouts too! As a reader, I never got to know about anyone except for Benny and Lexie. I was interested in the siblings, but all I got were the stereotypes that were forced upon them.
Third: The plot. I felt like this book didn't know what it wanted to be. Was this a commentary on reality TV in America? Was it a book dealing in with anxiety? The book ever stood up with a story arc that make sense beginning to end. Let's not even begin to talk about the plot holes. What happened to Chloe's anxiety? What's going on with Chloe's dad? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAWSUIT? I WAS WAITING EVER SINCE IT WAS BROUGHT UP TO EXPERIENCE IT BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED! Ugh, this book was a HUGE disappointment.
Something Real was so so so good. It somehow managed to hit that sweet spot-- the perfect balance between serious themes and entertainment. I loved the key ideas of privacy and exploitation and the exploration of different sorts of love (and the characters who loved). I also really enjoyed I'll Meet You There, so I'm really glad that I read this one, and now I want to read Demetrios's jinn books.
Something Real talks about lots of important themes. One of these is the idea of privacy. In an age when it's so easy to access any and all information about someone's life-- especially celebrities, thinking of scandals of the past few years-- privacy is really important. Chloe's struggle for how much of her privacy could be demanded by other people was so important to read about. I also thought the whole discussion of media was interesting. Reality TV is not something I watch-- and it's obviously not real either. But the role of social media, magazines and websites was talked about in this book, which I feel like is missing from a lot of contemporary YA. There's also the concept of exploitation. With the adoptions and the siblings and the huge money in shows like these, I really liked how human and civil rights came into this novel. The use of TM after every Bonnie(TM) was clever, and highlighted this. The theme of family was a big deal as well. I have a bigger family than most people I know (I have three siblings), but nowhere near the Bakers. Still, I recognised the chaos of their household, the love and the confusion. Dealing with her family is big part of Something Real, though I wish the siblings had been there even more present in the story. I did love Lex though. The tenuous bonds holding the Bakers together were really interesting.
I also liked how many different kinds of love were shown in the story. Chloe and Patrick had such a cute relationship *sigh*, but it obviously had complications, and that was interesting. Matt and Benton were also really sweet, and I liked that the complexities of being gay were really explored for them. But there was also friendship love. I totally identify with Tess (#highschoolnewspapereditor), and Mer was awesome too. I could see so much of myself in their friendship with Chloe, though I must say that I might be the AV girl if I was at their school. I loved the gang they formed with Patrick, Matt, and Benny. Sibling love is obviously a big deal in this story too. Benny and Chloes relationship was so permanent, so powerful, and the driving force of a lot of the novel. Chloe's learning more about Lexie was an important journey. The parental love was more complicated, but that teenager experience of loving someone and not being able to say it because there's so much between you was something that I think almost everyone can identify with. I like my parents way more than Chloe did, but I still got that. Teacher-student love is maybe not the best way to put it, but I loved Schwartz's relationship with the people he taught.
I guess my twp complaints are that some of the discussion of 'not running away from my problems' felt a little engenieered, and the Counselor Lady was Every Stereotype of Counselors Ever.
Something Real is entertainging and feel good and so well written. I knew it was a good book when I kept feeling annoyed because there wasn't enough left, but I still kept reading. YAS to this story!
Something Real talks about lots of important themes. One of these is the idea of privacy. In an age when it's so easy to access any and all information about someone's life-- especially celebrities, thinking of scandals of the past few years-- privacy is really important. Chloe's struggle for how much of her privacy could be demanded by other people was so important to read about. I also thought the whole discussion of media was interesting. Reality TV is not something I watch-- and it's obviously not real either. But the role of social media, magazines and websites was talked about in this book, which I feel like is missing from a lot of contemporary YA. There's also the concept of exploitation. With the adoptions and the siblings and the huge money in shows like these, I really liked how human and civil rights came into this novel. The use of TM after every Bonnie(TM) was clever, and highlighted this. The theme of family was a big deal as well. I have a bigger family than most people I know (I have three siblings), but nowhere near the Bakers. Still, I recognised the chaos of their household, the love and the confusion. Dealing with her family is big part of Something Real, though I wish the siblings had been there even more present in the story. I did love Lex though. The tenuous bonds holding the Bakers together were really interesting.
I also liked how many different kinds of love were shown in the story. Chloe and Patrick had such a cute relationship *sigh*, but it obviously had complications, and that was interesting. Matt and Benton were also really sweet, and I liked that the complexities of being gay were really explored for them. But there was also friendship love. I totally identify with Tess (#highschoolnewspapereditor), and Mer was awesome too. I could see so much of myself in their friendship with Chloe, though I must say that I might be the AV girl if I was at their school. I loved the gang they formed with Patrick, Matt, and Benny. Sibling love is obviously a big deal in this story too. Benny and Chloes relationship was so permanent, so powerful, and the driving force of a lot of the novel. Chloe's learning more about Lexie was an important journey. The parental love was more complicated, but that teenager experience of loving someone and not being able to say it because there's so much between you was something that I think almost everyone can identify with. I like my parents way more than Chloe did, but I still got that. Teacher-student love is maybe not the best way to put it, but I loved Schwartz's relationship with the people he taught.
I guess my twp complaints are that some of the discussion of 'not running away from my problems' felt a little engenieered, and the Counselor Lady was Every Stereotype of Counselors Ever.
Something Real is entertainging and feel good and so well written. I knew it was a good book when I kept feeling annoyed because there wasn't enough left, but I still kept reading. YAS to this story!